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Toys To Life
Toys To Life is a 2020 American computer-animated comedy adventure film produced by Blue Sky Studios in association with 20th Century Fox, and released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the first film to have the Disney/Blue Sky logo since the purchase of Fox by Disney in 2019. Toys To Life was directed by Michael Thurmeier and Galen T. Chu from a screenplay by James V. Hart, Jonathan Goldstein, Jenny Bicks, and Robert L. Baird, and features the voices of Owen Laramore, Jenny Slate, Jimmy Fallon, Will Arnett, Idina Menzel, Catherine O'Hara, Nick Frost, Drew Barrymore, James Corden, Ella Anderson, Ellen Page, Sarah Vowell, Warwick Davis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jim Cummings, Benedict Wong, Chris Wedge, Dan Aykroyd, and Annie Potts. Composer John Powell, who worked on prior Blue Sky films, returned to score'' Toys To Life''. In Toytown, a world entirely inhabited by anthropomorphic talking toys, John and his troopers must reach the human world to get a new exhibit to save the Toytown Museum from bankruptcy follow the murder of his mentor Murray in the hands of a giant cat. When things go right, however, they end up in exile, to which John works to redeem his career by stopping a duplicitous Bionicle named Snake, who intends to kill John and rule over Toytown. Released theatrically on July 12, 2020, the film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $589 million worldwide against its $40 million budget. Toys To Life also won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It is the first installment in the Toys To Life franchise. Three sequels, ''Toys To Life 2'', ''Toys To Life 3'', and ''Toys To Life 4'', were released on March 25, 2023, March 9, 2026, and March 17, 2029. Plot John is a director of the Toytown Museum. Every week, he goes to work at opening time. The crowd consists of Ian the lion, Tina the Train, Ouch, Age, Cage, Page, and Rage, Ribbit, Robone, Little Spence, Mamo, Mousey, Ken, the Red Monkeys, Anji, Unicorn Duck, White the PEZ bunny, Diver, Dr. Hippo, and Pillow Dragon. His mentor, Murray knows John will be the new king one day. One day after work, a giant cat attacks Toytown, destroys one exhibit, and kills Murray. All of Toytown mourns for Murray's loss. John and his troopers decide to get a new exhibit in place of the old one. They go to the human world to get one. When they return with the exhibit in place, a zealous Bionicle toy named Snake appears, thinking John was the one who killed Murray. Mamo begs John to quit for his own good, but he refuses. John attempts to escort Snake out of Toytown, but Snake declines and exiles him as a punishment for his selfishness, prompting him to curse revenge on Snake for her blind belief. Later, Snake appears, and John argues with her. The next thing he knows, most toys in Toytown refuse to help him become king and turn their back on him in disgust, declaring Toytown is better off without him. Discouraged, John gives up, but his troopers tell him that being king is his importance, restoring his confidence. Snake spies on them and rallies up an angry mob consisting of a small number of Toytown toys to fight John, saying his goal will destroy Toytown forever. They corner John and his troopers, offering John a choice to either give up being king or face the consequences. John is not fooled, holding a heartfelt speech that inspires Mamo and the angry mob to turn against Snake and throw her into a dumpster after realizing she tricked them all along. Snake pulls John and his troopers into the dumpster, and they are emptied into a trash compactor. At the Toytown Landfill, They see a light (which Ouch thinks is daylight), but it is revealed to be an incinerator. John gives Snake a boost to push the stop button, but Snake still thinks John is evil, so she leaves them to die. John and his troopers are rescued by Little Spence, her mom, and her troopers. As Snake is sent to prison, the toys of Toytown praise John as a hero and declare him the new king. Cast * Owen Laramore as John * Jenny Slate as Snake * Jimmy Fallon as Murray * Will Arnett as Ian the lion * Idina Menzel as Tina the train * Catherine O'Hara as Ouch * Nick Frost as Age, Cage, Page, and Rage * Drew Barrymore as Ribbit * James Corden as Robone * Ella Anderson as Little Spence * Ellen Page as Mamo * Sarah Vowell as Mousey * Warwick Davis as Ken the color worm * Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Ronald the Red Monkey * Jim Cummings as Krasinski the Red Monkey * Benedict Wong as Brad the Red Monkey * Chris Wedge as Creeko the Red Monkey * Dan Aykroyd as Giant Cat * Annie Potts as Anji * Paige O'Hara as Unicorn Duck * Campbell Scott as White the PEZ bunny * Rupert Everett as Diver * Janelle Monae as Dr. Hippo * Rachel McAdams as Pillow Dragon * Adam Scott, Vanessa Williams, Martin Short, and Jay Leno as Bendable Aliens * John DiMaggio as Matt the construction worker * Josh Dallas as Plush Dog * Tony Cox as Dragon/Vacuum Truck Reception Box office The film grossed $210 million in the United States and Canada, and $379 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $589 million. Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 91% approval rating. The consensus reads, "For laughs, Toys To Life ''is a great Blue Sky movie". Metacritic signed the film to a score of 81 out of 100 based on 45 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A" on a A+ to F scale while those at PostTrak gave it a score of 86% and a 80% "definite recommend". Christopher Orr of ''The Atlantic praised the film's quality of animation and humor, saying, "With good humor and animation, Toys To Life is the greatest movie from Blue Sky I have ever watched, especially if the studio is with Disney". Antonio Quirke of ''London Evening Standard ''called the film "entertaining for families" and praised Owen Laramore's performance of John, saying, it's great to see Owen Laramore as a idealistic toy".